Happy 100th Birthday Latvia

There have been Latvians for centuries but an independent Latvia is a relatively recent entity. As the old order in the Old World collapsed after World War I, Latvia declared its independence on this day on 1918.

But in 1940 the Evil Empire, the Soviet Union, seized control of Latvia, as well as Lithuania and Estonia. In 1991 all three broke free, and unlike other former Soviet Republics, they never looked back.

Happy 100th to Mrs. Marathon Pundit's home country.